May 15, 2006

Free Range Music: Dinosaur Jr., The Raconteurs

Some great stuff over at AOL Music's pre-release album stream corral this week, although perhaps not as great as we like. We feel a little conflicted stating that we are somewhat disappointed with the Dinosaur Jr. reissues that street tomorrow. The original records are excellent by most every standard. But the amount of bonus material appended to the reissues is downright uninspiring. Sure, the extra gloss here and the starker vocals there are a nice touch and make for an interesting listen. We think we hear a pulsing harmonic buried in the verse of the remastered version of "The Wagon" on Green Mind that is particularly interesting. The epic-length, shreddin' version of "What Else Is New" that closes the reissue of Where You Been was new to us, but not new to many. On the whole the reissues don't really offer any sort of new experience with or take on the material. We'll reserve our final judgement on the records until we get the pre-orders in the mail and strap on the fancy headphones.

Also over at AOL Music this week is the stream for the debut of hotly tipped supergroup (well, if you think Brendan Benson is in the same neighborhood of "super" as Jack White, we guess) The Raconteurs. Broken Boy Soldiers clocks in at just over a half hour and is a nice set of rock and roll numbers. We recommend streaming this one, particularly the Deep Purple-tastic "Store Bought Bones." Three links to hot streams below.

Wow, Chucklehead is a name out of the past. They came and played at Wesleyan once or twice while I was there. Or maybe they attended Wes when I was there? I can't remember, it was that long ago. No idea what became of them. Maybe they're all fabulously wealthy now. And send us some of their dough.

That the Dino Jr. reissues are disappointing isn't really a shock, because the reissues of the first three albums didn't have much in the way of bonus shizz, either.

As for Chucklehead, I saw them a few times back in the dizzay (early to mid-90s) playing in North Shore clubs like the old Bleachers in Salem. They brought the funk action. Judging from Chucklehead.com, they're not playing around anymore, but there are a lot of links to live recordings (including some of the ones I attended).